Who is Astead Herndon? Former NYT reporter set to become Vox's editorial director

Most of American media this autumn seems fixated on Bari Weiss — her move to CBS , the endless debates about what it means, and the predictable churn of culture-war commentary that follows her everywhere. But while the spotlight has been trained firmly on her, a far more significant shift in political journalism is happening quietly, without the fanfare or the headlines: Astead W. Herndon is leaving The New York Times to join Vox , a move that could reshape how millions of Americans understand politics in the years to come.

Beginning October 20, 2025, Herndon will step into a dual role as editorial director and host at Vox, leading a new weekly video podcast on politics and society and driving a multiplatform storytelling effort that spans audio, video, text, and membership content. He will also guest-host Today, Explained alongside Noel King, bringing his distinctive voice to one of Vox’s flagship shows. The goal is simple but ambitious: to create political journalism that speaks beyond Washington’s inner circles and meets audiences where they actually are.

From reporting to reimagining politics

Herndon’s career has always been defined by a refusal to accept the conventions of political reporting. A Chicago native and Marquette University graduate, he began his career at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and The Boston Globe, before joining The New York Times in 2018. There, he quickly distinguished himself as one of the most incisive chroniclers of American politics — someone less interested in the tactical manoeuvres of campaigns than in how those manoeuvres play out in the lives of ordinary people.

His reporting treated voters not as polling data but as protagonists, and his work consistently explored how race, class, geography, and inequality intersect to shape political behaviour. That people-centred approach culminated in The Run-Up, the Times’ politics podcast, where Herndon dug beneath the surface of elections to examine the deeper structural forces at work in American democracy. It also earned him widespread acclaim, including the National Association of Black Journalists’ Journalist of the Year award and the Distinguished Journalist Award from DePaul University in 2025.

A worldview shaped by scepticism and context

What sets Herndon apart is not just his storytelling skill but his worldview — one defined by curiosity, scepticism, and a relentless focus on context. He rejects simplistic narratives that reduce politics to destiny — such as the assumption that demographic change inevitably benefits one party — and he is equally critical of campaign coverage that obsesses over messaging at the expense of meaning.

Herndon has called out progressive elites for talking at voters instead of with them, and he has criticised conservative strategists for weaponising resentment while ignoring the material conditions that shape people’s lives. But his work is not about scoring partisan points. It’s about asking deeper questions: Why do people believe what they believe? How do those beliefs form? And what does that mean for how power actually operates?

This diagnostic approach — one that sees politics not as spectacle but as a living system of power — is also the driving philosophy behind his next chapter. “Meeting audiences where they are,” as Herndon often puts it, isn’t just a slogan. It’s a reorientation of how political journalism should function in an era of polarisation, distrust, and disinformation.

Vox’s bet on depth over drama

Herndon’s move comes as Vox itself embarks on a broader reinvention. Founded in 2014 to close the gap between news and public understanding, the organisation now wants to build deeper, more nuanced narratives across multiple platforms — narratives that don’t just explain what is happening in politics, but why it matters.

Editor-in-chief Swati Sharma explained why Herndon is central to that mission: “When I think about the kind of talent I want at Vox, I keep coming back to two things: a voice that feels authentic and deeply connected to people, and someone who truly understands how to use audio, video, and text to reach audiences wherever they are.”

That approach is particularly relevant at a time when political coverage is too often defined by outrage cycles, pundit brawls, and fleeting viral moments. Vox’s bet is that Herndon’s work — rooted in depth, clarity, and context — can cut through that noise and build a more durable connection with audiences who feel alienated by traditional political reporting.

A new chapter for American political journalism

The stakes could hardly be higher. As America heads into the 2026 midterms and gears up for a pivotal 2028 presidential election, the need for journalism that explains rather than inflames has never been more urgent. Herndon’s task is not simply to report on politics but to make sense of it — to map the forces shaping democracy and translate them into stories people can use to navigate a chaotic political landscape.

In that sense, his move is more than a career transition. It’s a statement of intent: that political journalism can still be meaningful, relevant, and deeply connected to the public it serves. And if Herndon succeeds, his work at Vox could do more than change how politics is covered — it could change how it’s understood.